Disney released a series of concept art for the interior of Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, further revealing how much the Disney Vacation Club resort resembles the original resort concept: Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge.
History of Reflections & Lakeshore Lodge
Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge was announced in 2018. The site was cleared next to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, including the demolition of the former River Country water park. However, construction stalled before it could really get off the ground due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Years later, Reflections seemed to be canceled, but Disney resurrected the project as Lakeshore Lodge with similar nature theming.
Since the beginning, Lakeshore has resembled the (leaked) Reflections concept art. With even more Lakeshore artwork available, let’s take a look at how the concepts have changed and remained the same.
Reflections vs. Lakeshore Lodge Concept Art
The lobby of Lakeshore will “immerse guests in the sights and sounds of nature” according to Disney Vacation Club. Just like the Reflections concept, this lobby will be inspired by Pocahontas. Floor-to-ceiling windows welcome natural sunlight and showcase views of the outdoor recreation area — The Wetlands.
A fiberoptic river will illuminate the floor and a blown glass “Colors of the Wind” sculpture of suspended leaves will hang from the ceiling. The lobby will incorporate natural materials with furnishings featuring accents of river-recovered cypress wood and custom tapestries inspired by the film’s landscapes.
The floor-to-ceiling windows and ceiling design are identical to the Reflections concept art that was never officially released, but was published here on the pages of WDW News Today years ago. “Wind” elements across the ceiling have been turned into the glass “Colors of the Wind” sculpture. Both artwork has pod-like seating, although their shape has changed.
Reflections notably featured a Pocahontas statue. This isn’t visible in the Lakeshore Lodge concept art but could still be included (and perhaps announced at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event).
The fiber-optic “river” seems to be a new addition as well.
The Reflections lobby featured a seating area off the side. This space may still be part of Lakeshore Lodge but hasn’t been announced.
Moving onto restaurants, Bay Lake Provisions will be a quick-service marketplace offering specialty coffees and fresh fare in an “open-kitchen atmosphere” featuring woodland critters from Disney classics throughout the space.
Bay Lake Provisions corresponds to this marketplace dining area from Reflections. These spaces aren’t as visually similar as the lobby concepts, but the furnishings are still a woodsy brown and there are nature murals on the walls. Disney animated characters are visible in decor in the previous iteration as well.
The light fixtures seem to follow the same changes as the pod seating in the lobby. They were rounder in Reflections in art but have angled sides in Lakeshore.
In the background of the Lakeshore Lodge concept art, we can see the same white tree staircase structure from Reflections. These were originally glass-paned stairs. They don’t look glass in the Lakeshore art but it’s far away so hard to be sure. The Lakeshore stairs feature more branch-like railings than the Reflections art.
Poolside, guests can get shareable bites and beverages from Paint Out Point Bar & Grill. We never saw concept art of the pool bar or surrounding space for Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge. But the bar features the same wood paneling as the resort interiors.
Along Bay Lake will be Moonglade, a table-service restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows framing arching cypress trees. The exterior concept art closely matches artwork for Reflections, but Disney announced that version would be themed to The Princess and the Frog. No such announcement has been made for Moonglade.
The interior of Moonglade will feature decorations inspired by natural elements like cattails.
Back inside, guests can watch Magic Kingdom fireworks from Dandelion Terrace. This will be home to a two-story gallery of archival artwork from classics like Fantasia with whimsical dandelion light fixtures.
This is obviously the same fireworks viewing lounge we saw in 2019 Reflections art. It even features the same dandelion (but also fireworks-esque) light fixtures. The Reflections artwork is from a different angle, showcasing the gallery wall instead of the windows. Furnishings are different but that’s to be expected.
As we’ve noted in the past, the first official piece of concept art for Lakeshore Lodge, released a few months ago, features the same entrance structure as the Reflections concept art. The exterior color scheme is similar but Lakeshore features more green walls.
The Reflections artwork featured Bambi character statues around the entrance. Disney hasn’t revealed if these will carry over to Lakeshore.
We’ve also previously shared that Lakeshore will have the A-frame cabins of Reflections. You can see one in the Lakeshore art above and two in the Reflections art below.
We know Reflections guest rooms were to be inspired by properties like Bambi, Fox and the Hound, and Pocahontas. Disney has yet to share details or concept art of the Lakeshore rooms but we did recently get a glimpse inside some, where we could see mountainous murals, brown furniture, and white curtains.
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